Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s Golden Eras
‘When Yorkshire is strong, England is strong’ – so goes the age-old cricketing maxim. And it’s something that, in recent years, has held very true.
The current England captain and One Day World Champion Joe Root is a Tyke – and there’s a whole host of recent England players who hail from or play for the White Rose County, including Jonny Bairstow, Tim Bresnan, Adam Lyth, Gary Balance, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett and David Willey, amongst others.
Of course, Yorkshire is one of county cricket’s giants, having won the championship a record 33 times – although it’s not always been sunshine and success during those years. Yorkshire CCC has had its fair share of downs among the many ups, including a spell without a title from 1968-2001.
Odds of Yorkshire winning the county championship in 2020 are around 6 or 7-1, with Somerset and a powerful looking Surrey side installed as early bookies’ favourites. Keep your eyes peeled for offers like these 1xbet bonuses at Nostrabet.
With the season closing in, it’s a good time to reflect on some of those Yorkshire teams that have made it into the annals of club legend…
The Early Years
There have been a few periods of Yorkshire cricketing dominance through the years and the Victorian era saw Yorkshire fielding 12 championship winning teams, including a triple of back-to-back wins in 1900, 1901 and 1902. The developing professionalisation of the game appealed to stalwart Yorkshire players, whose pride in playing for the White Rose soon became a regional medal of honour.
The Twenties
Yorkshire’s second golden era also heralded the still-legendary rivalry with Lancashire. In the 20s Lancashire and Yorkshire jousted for domestic cricketing dominance, the Tykes filled with famous cricketing names such as Len Hutton, Herbert Sutcliffe and Bill Bowes (he man who dismissed Don Bradman for 0 in that second ‘Bodyline’ test). Indeed, Bowes’ autobiography outlines the levels of analysis in the Yorkshire dressing room of the day as on a par with modern analysis – no small statement.
The Thirties
Winning seven of the ten championship titles available in the thirties could be seen as tantamount to a monopoly, but Yorkshire’s dominance was built around two bowlers who were built for the pitches of the day. The aforementioned Bill Bowles got a great deal of bounce out of hard pitches, but left arm spinner Hedley Verity, despite a tragically short career, can be remembered as one of the greats. Variations in pace and length, coupled with extra bounce because of his height, made him practically unplayable at times – his 10 for 10 remaining a world record. He died of injuries incurred during the Second World War.
Sixties Success
It might have been the peace and love era, but the Yorkshire dressing room of the 1960s was arguably the toughest place in sport. If you weren’t carved out of granite with an iron will mental constitution you may as well have been a fluttering flower. Just look at the names – Captain Brian Close, Fred Trueman, Ray Illingworth, Geoff Boycott and the underpraised, but ever-present Tony Nicholson. With six titles in the decade this hard, hard school certainly found a way to win.
Aussie Revolution
A one-off Championship win in 2001 was all Yorkshire had to show as title winners since 1968. It took a long-haired Australian to heave the fallen giants of English cricket out of their slumber and launch a new era. Jason Gillespie’s modern man-management style got the best out of talented individuals like Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow and seemed to invigorate veterans like Tim Bresnan. He’s already moved on to pastures new, but his title winning legacy remains strong.
